The Bulls have engaged with “several” teams about the possibility of a Zach LaVine trade this offseason, but haven’t gotten serious about moving the high-scoring guard, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
As Fischer explains, LaVine’s pricey long-term contract will make potential trade partners wary about giving up a substantial package of players and draft picks, but the Bulls would be seeking a return that far outweighs what Washington got for Bradley Beal last week.
Fischer names the Knicks and Mavericks as possible teams to watch for LaVine, but immediately throws cold water on the likelihood of either club emerging as a legitimate suitor in the near future. New York seems to be taking a more patient approach to building its roster, according to Fischer, who adds that Dallas was viewed as a more serious threat for LaVine before acquiring Kyrie Irving as a co-star for Luka Doncic.
Here are a few more trade-related notes and rumors from around the NBA:
- Despite some speculation to the contrary, the Cavaliers haven’t had any discussions about trading Darius Garland and have no intention to move the All-Star point guard, sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link). The Cavs appear focused on pursuing roster moves that don’t involve trading any of their four cornerstone players (Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen).
- In addition to Kenyon Martin Jr., the Rockets have gauged potential trade interest in young players like Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher, sources tell Fischer.
- Norman Powell and Marcus Morris have both been mentioned in recent days as trade candidates. According to Fischer, the Clippers have been canvassing the league to see what a package of both players might return.
- No clear suitors have emerged for guard Anfernee Simons, who looks like the Trail Blazers‘ most obvious trade chip, says Fischer. According to Fischer, the Blazers and Cavaliers had some brief talks about Nassir Little prior to the draft, but didn’t gain any real traction toward a deal.
- ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on the latest episode of his Lowe Post podcast that the Bucks had some “relatively serious” internal conversations about John Collins before he was dealt to Utah. “I do think Milwaukee is looking around for, like, ‘Can we get a little injection of randomness? (An) injection of, like, bounce and athleticism, and just change?'” Lowe said. “Maybe just change more than anything else. But I don’t think (the Collins interest) went anywhere serious.”
…if the Cavs could get a S&T of KJ Martin for Okoro and Osman, that would be a good trade, but I doubt the Rockets would go for it. Though maybe; Martin seems to either want out or to get paid.
Martin and Okoro have similar defense (Okoro is better at the perimeter, Martin is better in the lanes, but overall they’re quite similar on that end) and athleticism but Martin is slightly bigger and stronger. Martin is more aggressive on offense and a better rebounder, while Okoro is a better shooter and seems very comfortable playing off the ball. Okoro gives them a similar player for basically the same value but he would be more willing to stick around imo.
Osman would be a good cheap vet for the Rockets, and he’s still only 28. Capable shooter and scorer in general, with solid perimeter defense. He’s been both a starter and a bench guy so he’d be willing to give pointers to guys in either role, and from hearing about him from his teammates and former teammates, they like him in the locker room.
The Cavs would get a starting SF, which they badly need, who is young, controllable for multiple years, and provides immediate value. The Rockets get a similar asset who still fits their timeline and budget in a similar way plus an experienced and decent bench guy who doesn’t cost much.
Any Rockets fans have addendums they want to suggest? I think it’s fair, but I’m a Cavs fan, so I might be biased.
Rockets have 60 mill for about 3 spots
They probably don’t have the room to add a 2 for 1 and effectively use there cap
Fair, though given that they’re rumored to be offering FVV $40 million per year, they may not have as much cap space as expected. Shave another 13-14 million off the top from both Okoro and Osman’s contracts instead of the much cheaper KJ, and that number gets smaller still.
The Beal trade hurt the Bulls and their expectations on a return for Levine. Either they’re going to need to figure out the current roster build going forward with Levine and focus their attention with what they have or blow it up with low expectations. Not sure Ainge could even help them out if he were the GM.
No it certainly did not. Beals trade was dictated by his no-trade clause. His return was limited enough by his AAV, but him being able to hold the new Wizards FO hostage brought the return for Beal to all time lows. Add in the fact that there were only two teams competing and you end up with a decade worth of 2nd rounders and a dying star.
Unless somehow Zach snuck in an unnoticed NTC and an extra 10 million a year, the Beal trade has no effect on Lavine’s stock (not to say his value isnt low at this point)
Bulls are doing the right thing by being patient with the Lavine situation. They should absolutely listen on him, but there’s no reason to take an underwhelming offer at this juncture. They should start moving in the direction of a rebuild, but they have a couple 30somethings on their roster who they should be more focused on moving. I find it hard to believe they wouldn’t be able to Beal dump Lavine 2 or 3 years down the road, so there’s absolutely no reason to do that now.
.. “the Bulls would be seeking a return that far outweighs what Washington got for Bradley Beal last week”
That would only require a single FRP.